Features – Page 11 – Fishermens News

New West Coast Fishing Regulations for 2022

With the new year comes a new book of fishing regulations. Actually, many new books – plural – of fishing regulations, since regulations are set by each individual state. These regulations can have a significant impact on anglers, governing everything from catch limits, zoning and licensing requirements. For 2022, fishing regulations have been altered mainly to either assist conservation efforts or to clarify language. Here are some of the most significant changes affecting fishermen along the West Coast. Alaska Alaska, which includes four times more coastline than any other state, faces a larger regulatory task than most of the continental United States. Alaskan fisheries are regulated by the Alaska Board of Fisheries, which meets every three years to determine regulatory changes. D...

Orange County Fishermen and Women Brace for Long Oil Spill Recovery

Shortly after an estimated 25,000 gallons of oil poured into the Pacific Ocean off Orange County’s coast last October, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife instituted a temporary fishing ban along 20 miles of coastline. No fishing was allowed from Huntington Beach to San Clemente, extending six miles out to sea. The unexpected closure sent fishers scrambling to mitigate losses and get traps of harm’s way. Then the hard part began. Until the fisheries were reopened in late November, many businesses were scraping by and in limbo, unable to move forward until they knew what’s lost and afraid that consumers will avoid their catch for years to come. Lobsters Get a Lashing The closures came at the worst possible time for the region’s lobster anglers, who had everything primed for...

Polar Star Marks Its 25th Operation Deep Freeze Deployment

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, the nation’s only heavy icebreaker, is now engaged in its 25th journey to Antarctica, in support of Operation Deep Freeze, an annual joint military mission to re-supply the U.S. Antarctic stations in support of the National Science Foundation for the nation’s Antarctic Program. Polar Star left its homeport in Seattle on Nov. 13 with a crew of 159 men and women, heading south on its annual trek to Antarctica. Capt. William Woityra, commanding officer of the Polar Star, said that maintaining and operating the 45-year-old ship in the harshest environment on the planet makes for arduous duty, but that the crew are committed to this important mission and “excited for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit a part of the world that most will never get...

Feds, States Pouring Millions of Dollars into Boosting Declining Pacific Salmon, Steelhead Runs

For Alaska’s Bristol Bay salmon commercial fishery, 2021 was another robust season, with deliveries of an estimated 40.5 million of the Bay’s famed wild sockeyes. Statewide through late September, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s preliminary harvest data showed 226.3 million salmon delivered to processors, including 156.5 million pinks, nearly 55 million sockeyes, 12 million chums, 2.4 million cohos and 247,000 Chinooks. Still, there were signs of concern even in Bristol Bay which, with its nine major river systems, comprises the largest commercial sockeye salmon-producing region in the world. “In Bristol Bay, average size is at 4.5 pounds per sockeye this year, down from 5.1 pounds in 2020,” fisheries consultant Dan Lesh noted in a late July report for McKinley Research Gr...

Fishing Safety Entering 2022: COVID-19 and Industry Stakeholders

It’s well known at this point that several American industries have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions on personal freedom and movement implemented by the federal and state governments across the U.S. This is true even at sea, where crews of all sorts of private vessels are placed at higher risks than land-based professions. Because of that, all segments of the maritime sector of commerce have responded to the pandemic in one way or another, prompting a new period of safety training and policymaking focused on addressing the impacts of infectious diseases and ailments that are spread through close proximity human-to-human interactions. One of the occupations requiring such interactions is commercial fishing, which even before the pandemic was alread...

Deep-Set Buoy Gear and Swordfish: NMFS Moves Forward

In August, the West Coast Region branch of the National Marine Fisheries Service announced a move to allow deep-set buoy gear (DSBG) for swordfish in federal waters offshore of California and Oregon. It’s a step that fishery officials are optimistic could help invigorate commercial domestic swordfish markets. Officials also say that the move could potentially provide almost $5 million in annual revenue for fishers, an economic impact that could expand if deep-set gear proves widely adaptable. The projections are part of a NMFS Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), released in August. The DEIS provides an extensive analysis regarding deep-set gear and swordfish. Following the public comment period, which ended Oct. 4, NMFS plans to amend the Fishery Management Plan for West Coast...

Catch Processing Tech Continues to Evolve in the Face of COVID-19

In an unprecedented year, catch processing companies have strived to continue innovating in spite of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. And catch processing, while less technologically complex than other aspects of the marine industry, has historically been a major source of innovation. Heading machines, plate freezers, pinboning machines, de-licing and portioning equipment have all been the beneficiaries of technological advances over the past few years. Many vessels have begun to integrate these technologies on-board, with installations of catch processing technology into more and more ships. Although catch processing has become more difficult due to the coronavirus pandemic — which stymied global trade and limited access to customers and suppliers — companies have still managed t...

Crab Prices Soar in Restaurants and at Markets

Menus at top seafood restaurants these days from Anchorage to San Diego boast gourmet entrees from sockeye and king salmon to Pacific halibut and cod, plus Dungeness crab and a variety of crab cake starters. But those looking for an entrée of Bering Sea red king crab legs will find their listings on some of the West Coast’s finest restaurants few and far between, because of soaring prices. It’s the highest price in the marketplace for king crab “and I expect this year’s (price) to beat last year’s,” said Jake Jacobs, executive director of the Inter-Cooperative Exchange in Seattle. “Prices have been climbing. It has been a really strange market with (the) COVID (pandemic) going on and it’s hard to tell what’s going to happen,” he said. “Based on what the fishermen said I am optimistic....

Coast Guard Icebreaker Healy Crew Undertakes Months Long Research Mission

High latitude research, professional exchanges with foreign navies and patrols and a visible U.S. surface presence in the Arctic are among the mandates for the Coast Guard Cutter Healy on its Arctic deployment and circumnavigation of North America. The crew aboard the 420-foot medium icebreaker, which departed Seattle on July 10, is also conducting other operations as directed throughout its months long journey. “Healy’s deployment provides opportunities to deepen the Coast Guard’s cooperation and commitment with our Arctic allies and partners and to support scientific exploration to increase understanding of the changing Arctic environment and associated impacts,” Coast Guard Pacific Area Commander Vice Adm. Michael McAllister explained. The Healy is scheduled to circumnavigate North...

New Trawl Technology Hopes to Reduce Bycatch

Trawl fishermen are faced with a dilemma: how to catch as much of the desired species of fish as possible, while limiting the accidental capture of bycatch, which are limited by government quotas and can be a major headache. A 2018 article in Fish and Fisheries estimated that around 10% of all fish caught worldwide is bycatch. These accidental captures can have negative effects on marine ecosystems and the productivity of fisheries. With large trawl equipment that captures hundreds of tons of fish a day, reducing this number is a difficult task. This problem has led researchers, fishermen and industry professionals to develop new trawl technology with the hope of reducing bycatch. Bycatch in the Bering Sea In the Bering Sea, the main bycatch issue is Chinook salmon, according to ...